What it is
AOD-9604 is a peptide made of 16 amino acids. It is made in a lab. It is a modified copy of the end section of human growth hormone, amino acids 176 to 191. Researchers in Australia built it to break down fat without growth hormone's other effects on growth and blood sugar. It does not raise IGF-1. Human weight-loss trials were run, and the company stopped development. Other names: Anti-Obesity Drug 9604, HGH Fragment 176-191.
What researchers study it for
- Fat breakdown in obese rodents
- Fat burning and body weight in mice
- Insulin response compared to full growth hormone
- Knee cartilage damage in rabbits
What the studies found
1. Obese rats gained less than half as much weight.
A 2000 study gave obese rats AOD-9604 by mouth every day for 19 days. They gained more than 50 percent less weight than untreated rats. Fat tissue broke down fat faster. Full growth hormone lowers the body's response to insulin. AOD-9604 did not. Rat data only.
2. Obese mice burned more fat and lost weight.
A 2001 study gave obese and lean mice AOD-9604, full growth hormone, or salt water for 14 days through a small pump under the skin. Both AOD-9604 and growth hormone raised fat burning and lowered body weight in the obese mice. The researchers also ran lab tests to see how much the effect depends on the growth hormone receptor. Mouse data only.
3. Treated rabbit knees showed less cartilage damage.
A 2015 study caused arthritis-like damage in the knees of 32 rabbits. The rabbits got weekly knee injections of salt water, hyaluronic acid, AOD-9604, or AOD-9604 with hyaluronic acid. The cartilage was then checked under a microscope. Groups given AOD-9604 had less cartilage breakdown than the salt water group. This is the main study behind interest in AOD-9604 for joints. Rabbit data only.
4. Human trials were started, but full results are not in PubMed.
A 2004 drug development review reported that early human trials of AOD-9604 for obesity were underway. No randomized human weight-loss trial of AOD-9604 is indexed in PubMed. Claims you see online about human trial results cannot be checked against a published paper.
How much research exists
A few rodent studies on fat and one rabbit study on cartilage. Human trials were run but not published in full in indexed journals. No completed human trial is available to review.
Facts
- Formula: C78H123N23O23S2
- Weight: 1815.1 g/mol
- CAS number: 221231-10-3
- Sequence: Tyr-Leu-Arg-Ile-Val-Gln-Cys-Arg-Ser-Val-Glu-Gly-Ser-Cys-Gly-Phe
- Time in the blood: not published for humans
- Storage: freeze the dry powder. Keep mixed solution in the fridge.
Legal status
Not approved as a drug by the FDA or any other agency. Its only regulatory status is GRAS (generally recognized as safe) as a food ingredient, which is not drug approval. Prescription only in Australia. Banned in sports by WADA under section S0, which covers drugs not approved for human use.
For research use only. Not for human use. Nothing here is medical advice.